As someone who strength trains often, my shoulders are constantly put to work. They get hit anytime I press weight overhead or hoist my body to the top of a pull-up bar; even the simple act of gripping a dumbbell brings my shoulder muscles out to play. Outside the weight room, my shoulders help me unload heavy bags of groceries, and make it possible for me to toss tennis balls for my dogs in the backyard.

In short, I depend on my shoulders for a lot. So, to show my appreciation for all that they do, I keep them healthy with regular doses of TLC. Shoulder stability exercises have become an essential component to my warm-up on days where I'm working my upper-body muscles. Really, they’re not even optional.

As a ball-and-socket joint, the shoulder also has the greatest range of motion of any joint in the body. Unfortunately, this also makes it the most vulnerable.

“It’s inherently unstable, which makes it easy to manipulate,” Doug Kechijian, D.P.T., of Resilient Performance Physical Therapy, tells SELF. Stability, according to exercise physiologist Mike T. Nelson, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., is the capacity to hold your joint in any position you choose. When the shoulder joint lacks stability, it can move too far under a weight, leading to chronic pain or injury. At best, an unstable shoulder in the weight room can lead you to overcompensate in other areas just to press a weight overhead, leading to muscle strain and pain. At worst, it’s a sidelining injury (think: dislocation or a tear) waiting to happen.

The good news is, with a little bit of work, you can develop great shoulder stability and range of motion so you can press that barbell overhead with a little less fear—and a lot more confidence.

Shoulder stability is created when all the stabilizer muscles that surround the joint are strong and—forgive the pun—pulling their own weight. “In essence, you’re trying to balance muscle contractions around the joint to hold it in one place,” Nelson says. For example, if your shoulder stabilizers are stronger and better able to contract in the front of your body than in the back, your arm will get pulled forward when you try to press and hold a weight overhead. This imbalance puts you at risk of developing chronic pain and injury.

The kettlebell arm bar is one of my go-to moves for building up key shoulder stabilizer muscles.

Most associate the kettlebell with classic strength- and endurance-building exercises like kettlebell swings, snatches, and goblet squats. But when used correctly, this tool can also help you simultaneously increase your range of motion (flexibility) while developing shoulder stability.

“The thing that I like about the kettlebell in general is that, especially for shoulder work, the weight is primarily behind you,” Nelson says. In other words, the weight pulls your shoulder back, effectively counteracting the rounding that happens after spending hours sitting behind a desk or in a car with less-than-stellar posture—which most of us do most days.

According to Jennifer Blake, a certified personal trainer and kettlebell instructor at The Movement Minneapolis, the kettlebell arm bar is the perfect upper-body mobility and stability drill. In the short term, it’ll prep your body for the demands of your workout by warming up the shoulders and lats. When done over time, it’ll help keep your shoulders healthy and capable of lifting weights safely.

With the weight to offer resistance, the kettlebell arm bar forces your shoulder to stabilize as you reach the end of your range of motion. But don’t think you have to go to extremes to reap the benefits. The key is to continue working your way in and out of the end position as far as you’re comfortably able, manipulating variables like tempo, weight, and range of motion to help you get there. “Over time, you can get in and out of more extreme positions for the shoulder,” Nelson says, “so you’re actually teaching both mobility and stability at the same time.”

For healthy shoulders, Blake recommends adding the kettlebell arm bar to your upper-body warm-up routine. As a bonus, this movement also fires up the lats, making it a great drill to do before pull-ups. “It also gets your grip ready to do work,” Blake adds.

Here’s how to do it:

To set up, lie on your back with a kettlebell to the left side of your body. Start with a weight you can hold overhead with little to no difficulty. Roll to your left side to spoon the kettlebell, grabbing the handle with your hand nearest to the floor. With the kettlebell tight against your body, roll back onto your back.

From there (this is where the gif above begins), bend your left leg and press the kettlebell straight up over your chest, using your other hand to assist if needed.

Keep the kettlebell raised toward the sky as you roll your body to the side. Initiate the movement by slowly rolling your chest toward the floor; your left heel, hip, and shoulder should all move together. Your left shoulder, elbow, and wrist will remain aligned and perpendicular to the floor throughout the movement.

Sink your chest further toward the floor for two to three breaths before reversing back to starting position.

Alternate sides for two sets of two reps per arm.

If you struggle with the kettlebell arm bar, Nelson recommends doing this simple mobility drill first to help you get used to controlling your shoulder: While standing, bring one arm straight out to the side. Keeping your arm straight, and without moving your torso, focus on using only the shoulder joint to move your arm in slow, controlled circles about a foot in diameter. Complete three to six reps in each direction per arm.